News & Views Friday, December 09, 2016

Category: Piano Music

Christmas sheet music for piano is always fun to have. There are plenty of songs for PVG (piano/vocal/guitar) that can be played on the piano or on the guitar. The songs can be played by both piano and guitar while everybody sings, too. Some titles are for piano solo on various levels, easy to advanced.

Stanton’s has a lot of Christmas sheet music, also books of songs for everything from very easy piano to advanced, accordion to ukulele, and collections of Christmas solos for the band and orchestra instruments. There is a nice selection for organists as well. Browse our website to see what suits you best! Whether you play for fun, for friends or family, for church, or for parties, you will find something that is just right for you.

Happy birthday to the “King of Ragtime Writers!” Thus was Scott Joplin christened by John Stark, the publisher who dedicated his working life to promoting ragtime music. Joplin’s the “Maple Leaf Rag” was the first ragtime sheet music to sell over a million copies. Joplin also wrote waltzes, marches, intermezzi, tangos, songs, and a delightful opera called “Treemonisha.” Dover publishes a volume called “Complete Piano Rags” by Scott Joplin. It includes a biography of Scott Joplin and six exercises from Scott Joplin’s “School of Ragtime.” If you love Joplin’s rags, this is the book for you! All the pieces are original, not simplified.

Phillip Keveren has arranged nine Christmas medleys for piano on an intermediate level. It has not been easy to find medleys, so this collection, “Christmas Medleys,” is a welcome addition to the Christmas repertoire. These are suitable for church, recital, or for background music at a dinner or hospital lobby. (Some local pianists play in the Riverside Methodist Hospital lobby.) Phillip Keveren is a talented pianist, arranger and composer. His books of piano arrangements are among the most popular that we sell here at Stanton’s.

Barb M. has worked in the Keyboard Department at Stanton’s since 1981. An active folk musician in the Columbus area, Barb also works with ensembles at her church and plays in the Columbus State Concert Band. In her spare time, Barb loves working with animals and computer games.

“Go, Tell It On the Mountain” is a collection of distinctive piano duet arrangements for Advent and Christmas. A blend of Christmas songs includes a spiritual, “Go, Tell It On the Mountain,” the German carol “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” and the British Isles’ “The Holly and the Ivy.” They have been arranged for two advanced pianists by Victor Labenske. The duets are fun to play, and delightful to hear. Get started now for the Christmas season!

Barb M. has worked in the Keyboard Department at Stanton’s since 1981. An active folk musician in the Columbus area, Barb also works with ensembles at her church and plays in the Columbus State Concert Band. In her spare time, Barb loves working with animals and computer games.

Inspector Gadget is back! Hulu has the series, and it’s a hoot to watch this cyborg policeman fumble his way from case to case, with his niece Penny actually doing all the “heavy lifting.” Heaven only knows how many gadgets the inspector has – they never quite seem to help!

The theme, written by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, has been arranged for advanced piano duet by Zach Heyde and Frank Tedesco. Full of musical jokes and a gag or two, this arrangement from Alfred Music would be great to include on a recital or a school talent show. It’s just too funny to pass up!

For more about this or other piano music, call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, email keyboard@stantons.com, or visit us at stantons.com. Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!

About the Author:Barb M. has worked in the Keyboard Department at Stanton’s since 1981. An active folk musician in the Columbus area, Barb also works with ensembles at her church and plays in the Columbus State Concert Band. In her spare time, Barb loves working with animals and computer games.

“Across the Field” is Ohio State University’s football fight song. It was composed by William Doughtery, a student at OSU, in 1915. The words to “Carmen Ohio” were written by Fred Cornell, a cheerleader at OSU, in 1902. The tune is a hymn tune called MADRID – “Come Christians, Join to Sing” is the hymn most often sung to that tune. Both tunes are in the condensed score for “College Songs for School Bands” from Hal Leonard, which can also be used for piano (but, words are not included). Songs from other colleges are included in this book of sheet music too! Another standard OSU song, “Hang On, Sloopy” is available at DigitalDelivery.stantons.com.

For more information about this collection of college fight songs, or other collections of sheet music, please call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, email us at keyboard@stantons.com, or visit our website at stantons.com.

NOW AVAILABLE from Disney*Pixar is the piano sheet music for Finding Dory, available for both easy piano and intermediate/advanced piano levels. This film has been shown world wide, and has met with success all over. Play the music and sing the songs! Also included in the books are several still photos from the movie. Enjoy yourself!

For more information, call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, email keyboard@stantons.com, or visit us online at stantons.com!

The new National Federation of Music Festivals Bulletin was released in May 2016. If you don’t have yours yet, call the Federation at 317-882-4003, provide your mailing information and your credit card number, and you’ll have your new bulletin in a few days.

The current bulletin is good from July 2016 to June 2020. As usual, Stanton’s has the music for most piano solos and duets available. Call or email to make sure we have everything you want, as there are several small publishers that distribute their own music. We have Alfred, Hal Leonard, FJH, Kjos, Willis, C.F. Peters, Faber, Carl Fischer, and Schirmer editions available. We are well-stocked on all Junior Festival music, especially at the Pre-Primary to Moderately Difficult levels, and look forward to helping you prepare your students for the event!

No, it isn’t Halloween, already. It’s just that we musicians need to start practicing before a holiday occurs, so we have to start earlier than everyone else! For music teachers, it’s time to start students on their Halloween recital pieces. Stanton’s has Halloween piano pieces at every level, from primer to advanced. Many pieces are available as single title sheets, while some are found in collections. Keep in mind that many advanced classical pieces for piano that we traditionally associate with Halloween can be played throughout the year, including “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Dukas, used in Disney’s”Fantasia,” and “Funeral March of a Marionette” by Charles Gounod.

For more information about this holiday music, call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, email us at keyboard@stantons.com, or visit our website. Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!

About the Author:

Barb M. has worked in the Keyboard Department at Stanton’s since 1981. An active folk musician in the Columbus area, Barb also works with ensembles at her church and plays in the Columbus State Concert Band. In her spare time, Barb loves working with animals and computer games.

Jane Bastien and her two daughters, Lisa and Lori, have written a new piano method called “New Traditions.” Written for today’s busy students, this course includes everything in one book: lessons, theory, technique and performance. So far, this series goes up to a Level 2A. The pages in each book are fully integrated for a streamlined, comprehensive, easy-to-use approach.

New with this series is IPS: Interactive Practice Studio. Each book you purchase includes a user license code inside the front cover. This gives the student computer access to recordings of the solos, duet parts for some pieces, a media downloader to download recordings for offline use, a “personal studio”that lets the student record the pieces played that can be emailed to friends, and more! There is plenty of easy piano sheet music to get started with!

The three volumes of “Complete Works for Piano” by Erik Satie, stacked on top of each other, measure one and a half inches, which is more music than I realized he wrote! Salabert is the publisher, and the editor is Robert Orledge, who has carefully researched the various sources of Satie’s piano compositions, has painstakingly edited them, and has written a commentary for each piece. Anything you want to know about Erik Satie and his music is included in these three volumes. There are new pieces to explore, and old favorites to revisit.

About the Author:Barb M. has worked in the Keyboard Department at Stanton’s since 1981. An active folk musician in the Columbus area, Barb also works with ensembles at her church and plays in the Columbus State Concert Band. In her spare time, Barb loves working with animals and computer games.

Lang Lang is one of the most famous pianists of our time. His enthusiasm for playing, and his love for the piano are unmistakable. In China, “the Lang Lang effect” has encouraged over forty million children to learn to play the piano.

The Lang Lang Piano Method is new to the market. This series includes five books on progressive levels, beginning on a primer level. This new piano method is as enthusiastic as Lang Lang. If you watch the YouTube videos, you can see him smiling and listening to the orchestra playing along with him! If you have children or students who are excited about the piano, Lang Lang is a great role model, and this method is a great way to encourage their interest in the piano – check it out!

It isn’t easy to find music for Reformation Sunday, so when “To God Alone Be the Glory – A Reformation Celebration for Piano Solo,” a collection arranged by Stephen Nielson, was released we paid attention! This is a collection of ten advanced level piano solos, each hymn expressing one or more of the five “solas,” a Latin term meaning “only.” These pieces may be for general use, also.

Stephen Nielson has long been known as half of the famous piano duo team, “Nielson and Young,” and is widely regarded as one of the distinctive artists of our time.

It isn’t always an easy matter to teach improvisation to a student, or to learn improvisation on your own. “Creative Chords” is a keyboard improvisation method by Bradley Sowash that will clear up the mysteries. There is a Book 1, and a Book 2 just came off the press. Internet access to the “Interactive Practice Studio” is included with each book you buy (see inside the front cover for directions). You can “jam” along with the recording online! Only basic reading skills are needed to get you started. You can learn how to play “by ear,” improvise in different styles and learn how to make up your own variations and add embellishments. Give Book 1 a chance, and you will go on to Book 2 so you can learn more ways to have fun improvising!

Visit our website stantons.com, email us at keyboard@stantons.com, or call us at 1-800-24-MUSIC to learn more. Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!

About the Author:Barb M. has worked in the Keyboard Department at Stanton’s since 1981. An active folk musician in the Columbus area, Barb also works with ensembles at her church and plays in the Columbus State Concert Band. In her spare time, Barb loves working with animals and computer games.

This collection, Classic Disney Songs, contains twelve favorite songs from six classic Disney movies: Dumbo, Snow White, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Three Little Pigs, and So Dear to My Heart. Baby-boomers grew up with these movies, then shared them with their children (and grandchildren!!). These songs are arranged for easy (big note) level piano players. Each song is a delight to play: “When You Wish Upon a Star,” “Some Day My Prince Will Come,” “Baby Mine,” “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” and more. This is a great collection of easy piano sheet music for young players.

The new National Federation of Music Festivals Bulletin was released in May 2016. If you don’t have yours yet, the Federation at 317-882-4003 – provide your mailing information and your credit card number, and you’ll have your new bulletin in a few days.

The current bulletin is good from July 2016 to June 2020. As usual, Stanton’s has the music for all piano solos and duets available. Call or email to make sure we have everything you want, as there are several small publishers that distribute their own music. We have Alfred, Hal Leonard, FJH, Kjos, Willis, C.F. Peters, Faber, Carl Fischer, and Schirmer editions available. We are well-stocked on all Junior Festival music, especially at the Pre-Primary to Moderately Difficult levels, and look forward to helping you prepare your students for the event!

Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in Oneg, Russia, in 1871. His first piano teacher was his mother, who began teaching young Sergei when he was four years old. He began his studies at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory at the age of ten, later continuing his studies at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1892 he was presented his diploma, his main areas being piano performance and composition.

Because of the Russian Revolution in 1917, he and his family fled to Finland, then Denmark, and finally, to the United States, where they eventually settled in Beverly Hills, California. Rachmaninoff was active as a composer, conductor and concert pianist in the United States. Some of the most popular piano works composed by Rachmaninoff are his Fourteen Preludes, Opus 3, #2, and Opus 32, #1-13, his concertos, “Etudes Tableaux” and “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.”

If you are a music teacher who belongs to the Ohio Music Teachers Association, (National Federation of Music Clubs), you will be glad to know that the new bulletin is ready! Just call 317-882-4003 to order yours over the phone from their office in Indiana. Stanton’s is currently in the process of ordering the piano music for the Junior Festival, and over the next several weeks, we should have most of it in stock. Call ahead and reserve your Festival music now!

If you are reading this, you are probably a musician or associate with musicians. When you are a musician or hang with musicians, you begin to think that everyone is probably involved in music in one way or another. But, we musicians are really a fairly finite group of people.

It has been speculated that if you were to gather all people in the United States who make their living in the music industry (whether creating it, performing it, recording it, writing it, teaching it, publishing it, selling it, making and repairing instruments that play it etc), you would end up with about the same amount of people as are employed by the Kellogg’s Company – you know, the cereal and snack food folks. Yeah – a pretty finite group!

It seems unlikely that anyone involved in this tight-knit music community would intentionally keep their fellow musicians from trying to make a living. And yet, that’s what you do when you copy sheet music without permission. Sheet music is property – like a trumpet, violin or a microphone – but it’s intellectual property, which can be a bit nebulous. Basically, only the Copyright Holder has the “right” to “copy” their work. When you copy music without permission from the copyright holder, you are actually stealing it.

When you copy music without a second thought, that means the music is not being sold. Consequently, the music retailer and all their employees lose income, the music publisher and all their employees lose income, and, perhaps most tragically, the composer loses income. Your fellow musicians are being deprived of their ability to make a living.

So not only are you breaking the law by copying music, you are keeping your brothers and sisters in this finite musical community from doing what they love to do: be a musician. If they can’t make a living at it, they may have to leave and do something else. And the musical world becomes an even smaller place.

So don’t copy music without permission – it’s not only illegal, it’s immoral. Let’s make sure the livelihood of our music community is secure so we can all continue to make music – that thing we love to do!

About the Author:Dan C. has worked at Stanton’s since 1979, primarily with orchestra music and print promotions. A “working” musician, he’s a classical cellist, a rock & jazz bassist and a folk & country guitarist/singer. His free time is spent with family or reading, gardening, cycling and working puzzles. His series of musical puzzles (RP3 Rebus Puzzle Picture People) can be found on the Stanton’s Facebook page each Sunday. He also has a reputation as a pretty good joke teller. Seriously.

Mark Hayes has produced another collection of well-crafted piano solos for the church pianist! There are twenty-five “miniatures,” which are pieces lasting one to two minutes. This is perfect for a small church. The pieces are for general use, and some seasonal solos are included. This has been one of our best-sellers at Stanton’s, so check it out!